But even with those advanced programs in place, enterprises still need to protect their endpoints from intrusion – and that includes everything from laptops and desktops to iOS and Android devices. For most individual users as well as businesses, this protection will come in the form of an anti-virus security suite. In fact, the proliferation of mobile devices coupled with BYOD programs makes anti-virus even more necessary in today’s enterprise environment, regardless of what programs are protecting the core network. (Read Network World's product test: Old-school anti-virus vendors learn new tricks.)

According to several leading anti-virus companies, these days there is little difference between an endpoint sitting on a corporate network, a personal computer being used at home, or even a mobile device being used as part of a BYOD program. The protection that all of those devices need is nearly identical, and the anti-virus software deployed for them is almost exactly the same across the board.